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New guilty plea by supplier in Detroit school fraud scandal

Just when you thought the torrent of fraud against Detroit's public schools had run dry, oops -- here's another guilty plea. . .

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade holds a press conference with all areas of law enforcement including Detroit ATF Special Agent in Charge William Temple Wed., Feb. 29, 2012 at the Samaritan Center Wellness Building spelling out to residents that despite the spike in crime recently they are taking down the bad guys one by one and they are not overwhelmed. They stood collectively behind McQuade each speaking saying what they are doing to eradicate crime aggressively.
REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press(Photo: Regina H. Boone, Detroit Free Press)

Another supplier to the Detroit Public Schools has pleaded guilty to defrauding the school district.

Pleading guilty Tuesday in federal court in Detroit was Theodore Pride III, who stole “at least $684,644” by submitting fraudulent invoices to the district “for tutorial services that were never rendered to DPS students,” said a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

"People who defraud a school system are effectively stealing educational opportunities from children,” McQuade said.

Pride’s case is the latest in a string of more than a dozen cases this year in which a DPS vendor and school officials pleaded guilty to stealing from the district with kickbacks and phony invoices. In testimony on Dec. 6 in Lansing, DPS Transition Manager Steven Rhodes — formerly, the judge in the historic city of Detroit’s bankruptcy — told state lawmakers that the district’s criminal investigation wasn’t over.

There were “several matters under investigation that may result in further criminal investigations and charges," Rhodes said at the time, declining to give details. Earlier this year, guilty pleas led to prison terms for 12 principals, an assistant superintendent and school vendor Norman Shy, who paid nearly $1 million in kickbacks for approving phony invoices.

The latest case followed a lengthy investigation, led by FBI agents because school district funds include federal grants made to enhance educational achievement in the district, law enforcement officials said last year.

Tuesday’s guilty plea, which followed a plea agreement with Pride, “highlights the continuing efforts by the FBI and our partners to hold accountable individuals who place their own interests ahead of the public good,” said David P. Gelios, special agent in charge of the Detroit field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the news release. Pride, 37, of Detroit is the former program director of a firm called Priority: My Education, which was created to supply tutoring services to DPS students, according to the release.

According to court records, Pride cheated DPS between 2011 and 2012 while acting as resident agent as well as program director of the firm. Pride, who appeared before U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman, faces up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced April 11, according to the release from McQuade’s office.